Planted Pea Puffer Savannah

Hello Everyone,

I've started a new 34 gallon planted tank I plan to keep Dwarf Puffers in. I know pea puffers aren't quite the newbie fish you start with, however, every piece of advise I read says keep the fish you want then build the tank for them.... So that's what I'm doing. I researched loads and loads of fish and fell in love with the minI puffers.

I then spent a good couple of months convincing the fiancé to get a large tank for our home. We have a small BiOrb that belongs to our 5 year old daughter and I've enjoyed caring for it so much I wanted my own tank. We settled on the Fluval f90 because the tank and set up was so aesthetically beautiful that it would be a joy to watch.

I ordered the tank and we proceeded to shop for the decor to make the Pea Puffers a great home. We visited loads of aquarium shops and came upon Pacific Aquarium in NYC, where we spotted this amazing piece of Savannah wood.




The tank arrived on September 14th and we set it up over the next few days. My better half did most of the work!




We put in Caribsea moonlight sand and the Savannah wood then sat back and enjoyed the view.




The cloudiness dissipated after a day... then the tannins set in...

I proceeded to watch the beautiful tank turn brown. :byebye: My fiancé I'm sure kept his opinion to himself and I set about doing research on removing the tannins. Loads of sites say leave it in, it looks great, and it's so good for fish. If the fish are aggressive they can't see each other... But then I can't see them either!

I'm sorry no. lol

Carbon and Purigen and Chemiblue were recommended along with massive water changes. Also boiling the wood and soaking it.

The wood is huge and wouldn't fit on my stove let alone inside a pot. So, in the bath tub it went for a shower and another scrubbing.... I was super careful not to let it touch anything in my tub except water! Again, gotta thank my fiancé for his assistance in holding it while I sprayed it with water and scrubbed.

Back in the tank it went after a nearly full water change and over 100ml of carbon. We treated the water again and waited a few days and voila... tannins under control.... for now. I added some Java Fern and Amazon Swords that arrived in pretty bad shape and a third plant I forget the name of but will post it later. Bought some Flourish but LFS was out of root tabs...




We also asked my LFS for some free snails for our puffers to eat once they settle in. They were more than happy to give me a bag of 7 Ramshorn snails to get started. They understood the tank would be cycling for a while.

I placed a large order of plants and some other items and am hoping to spruce up the tank in the next few days. Pea Puffers, I've read, love and need a heavily planted tank... so what the Peas want the Peas will get... little by little...




I have the API freshwater test kit and these are the parameters so far.. it's so early these are more a measure of our tap water than anything else of course.

PH 7.6 Tap water
PH 7.0 Tannins Brown Water
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 0

I have soft water here in NYC and my tap always measures no chlorine... but I treat it with conditioners anyway

Wednesday night I got a shipment of new plants, fertilizers and an intake sponge from Aquarium Coop. As you can imagine I was in fish tank heaven playing with the tank.

 

Loads of new plants but not quite "heavily planted". I'm sure when they grow out a bit it will be lush... that is for those few plants that will grow faster than those anubias...

Plants I added Wednesday night:

Amazon Swords 2x
Anubias Nana 2x
Anubias Coffeefolia 2x
Banana Lily 2x
Apon Ulvaceus bulbs 2x


Added on 9/24/17

1 Pitiful Amazon Sword
1 Java Fern bunch attached to a piece of coconut
3 Marimo Moss Balls and
14 stems of either .... Lidernis Rotundifolia or Bacopa Caroliniana. I say either because I forgot to write the name of the plant while at the LFS... feel free to clarify for me if you're knowledgeable and can tell the difference.




I'm considering some water sprite next, that was suggested by H20 Plants when I asked them about puffer friendly plants.

I put up this build in the TropicalFishForum site as well, so you will find some duplication on that website. I'm quite new so I've been reading loads and became a member of both forums at about the same time.

 

Wow, I love that wood! It adds really nice vertical which is so important. The plants will come along and of course you can buy more and then thin them when the growth gets too crowded. I'm also super jealous of that tank stand, it's gorgeous!!!

These are going to be some lucky wee fishies! Looking forward to following progress!

 

Wow, I love that wood! It adds really nice vertical which is so important. The plants will come along and of course you can buy more and then thin them when the growth gets too crowded. I'm also super jealous of that tank stand, it's gorgeous!!!

These are going to be some lucky wee fishies! Looking forward to following progress!

Thank you Hill Dweller, it took a lot of debating on which tank/stand to buy but each one I looked at couldn't compare to that one. We are very happy with it. The wood was easy to love though. I saw it at the front of the shop and then looked at every other piece in the store, nothing else would do after seeing that one.

 

Looking great! I love that wood too, and the plants. I love thoroughly planted tanks. I'm sure your fish (and snails!) will feel the same. Try not to worry too much about the tannins. I know they may look unsightly if you want crystal clear water. They'll go away eventually on their own with regular water changes. I can't wait to see the evolution of your tank!

 

Looks wonderful! Please keep updating with photos!

 

Your tank is worth more than all my 4 tanks..... what a beautiful sight.

 

Looking great! I love that wood too, and the plants. I love thoroughly planted tanks. I'm sure your fish (and snails!) will feel the same. Try not to worry too much about the tannins. I know they may look unsightly if you want crystal clear water. They'll go away eventually on their own with regular water changes. I can't wait to see the evolution of your tank!

Thanks BHK3, I must admit the tannins give the impression of a seasoned tank... even though it clearly is not. I have some testing/experimenting to do to figure out the right amount and frequency of fertilizer to add in. I'm sure the large amount of carbon I added to keep the tannins at bay have also effected the fertilizer in the water.

 

This is exciting! Your tank looks great!! I am definitely gonna follow along. LOVE Pea Puffers, I am planning on getting one one day soon!

 

This is exciting! Your tank looks great!! I am definitely gonna follow along. LOVE Pea Puffers, I am planning on getting one one day soon!

Thank you NightShade! I must admit that the temptation to buy the puffers is SO great, but the tank isn't ready for them yet. Also, on a side note, it seems the little guys are hard to find in my neck of the woods. My LFS placed an order for the dwarf puffers a couple weeks ago for some other customers and he is still waiting for them, they are long over due. I check nearly every weekend just so I can get a glimpse of the little guys before they go to their forever homes but nothing yet. My fiance looked online to find some for sale and the pickings are slim! Oh, and there is also the question of wild caught and bred in captivity. The latter is of course preferrable but will be more expensive.

 

Great looking tank! Nice wood!

 

I love the wood! I wish I could find a piece that nice. I can't wait to see the tank with the puffers!

 

One fert that I recommend is Thrive by Nilocg.. it's got NPK, which flourish does not have. And it takes quite a bio load to get enough N to grow a heavily planted tank. I switched to Thrive, & my plants have grown like crazy! I got it off Amazon, & it's a little pricey, but it'll last, & to me it's worth it!

Yea, Pea Puffers are hard to find! I'm sure you know this, but if you do get a wild-caught, then you'll want to use an anti-parasitic on them first thing.. Wild Pea Puffers basically all come with parasites lol (info from the Puffer forum)

 

I love the wood! I wish I could find a piece that nice. I can't wait to see the tank with the puffers!

I really did get lucky.

One fert that I recommend is Thrive by Nilocg.. it's got NPK, which flourish does not have. And it takes quite a bio load to get enough N to grow a heavily planted tank. I switched to Thrive, & my plants have grown like crazy! I got it off Amazon, & it's a little pricey, but it'll last, & to me it's worth it!

Yea, Pea Puffers are hard to find! I'm sure you know this, but if you do get a wild-caught, then you'll want to use an anti-parasitic on them first thing.. Wild Pea Puffers basically all come with parasites lol (info from the Puffer forum)

I have the flourish comprehensive, but also the Easy Green by Aquarium Coop, and their root tabs. I'm still learning so I will definitely keep a journal on the ferts I use. I will keep that brand in mind.

I have read about the need to deworm puffers of parasites that are wild caught, I'd like to avoid that if at all possible. I guess it will depend on the supply available when I'm ready to purchase some.

 

It looks awesome!! Tank is beautiful and the scape is lovely as well. The puffers will love it.

 

Aquarium coop has great ferts too! You'll have success with those I'm sure!

Yea, when I get some, I'd definitely like to avoid that myself!

 

Beautiful tank and setup!

 

I've got snail babies! They were too small to focus on but I have some photos of the parents and eggs.







Here are a few close ups of the plants.

 

Following! Sorry if you mentioned it before, but how many puffers do you plan to have?

 

Here are a few close ups of the plants.

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What type?

 

I have not tried those ferts, but I've heard good things about them! The "dosing" strategy is different (if I remember correctly), Thrive is "Ei" dosing, can't remember what dosing method is. It may be the same! Lol.. just can't remember! ops: Either way, they are good ferts. (I've had a crazy past 24 or so hours! So I don't have the energy to look lol... gotta get up super early tomorrow, but I'll have a few hrs to kill after 10 maybe (ugh, I hope!)

Congrats on the snails!! They will make for a tasty feast! I have blue Ramshorns doing the same lol! (May have to sell some soon! Haha)

 

Following! Sorry if you mentioned it before, but how many puffers do you plan to have?

I've read the first puffer needs 5 gal, then every Puffer there after needs between 3-5. It's a 34 gal tank so I'll work inside those parameters. Any suggestions?

What type?

In the order of the pics,

Banana Lily
Anubias Nana
Anubias Coffeefolia

 

I've read the first puffer needs 5 gal, then every Puffer there after needs between 3-5. It's a 34 gal tank so I'll work inside those parameters. Any suggestions?

I'm not super familiar with puffers so I don't think I really know, but that guideline seems about right!

 

I'm not super familiar with puffers so I don't think I really know, but that guideline seems about right!

They are very small fish, however the 1 inch per gallon rule does not apply to them. I've read they become aggressive once they reach adulthood. Lots of people put them in community tanks and it works out fine. There are loads of videos showing this.

However, idk if those are just juvenile puffers, or they just happen to have docile puffers. Then again there is the heavily planted tank factor that should break their line of sight to their target.

I'd rather err on the side of caution and not overcrowd the little guys and thereby give them cause to fight. However, the number of puffers may also come down to how they are sold. I don't want Wild caught Puffers, but the place my fiancé found online that sells puffers bred in captivity only sell them by the dozen.

... what to do...

 

I've seen a bit about puffers on YouTube which may make a fair place to try a bit of research? Lately the guy from Aqua Pros started a pea puffer nano tank, Corey seems to get a lot through the store and seems to mention them a bit, also see if Rachel O'Leary has a profile video on them? She really knows her stuff

 

Funny you should mention those. I've seen each one and thought they were great. They are all very informative and I learned loads. I wish they were nearby so I could visit their puffer tanks.

 

Funny you should mention those. I've seen each one and thought they were great. They are all very informative and I learned loads. I wish they were nearby so I could visit their puffer tanks.

There are probably loads of other channels worth checking out, I wish I had more time

 

There are yes, most describe the puffers and their care but some just a viewing of their dwarf puffers hanging out. I've even found loads of breeding videos showing the spawning and the tiny baby Puffers... I love those.

 

I've seen a bit about puffers on YouTube which may make a fair place to try a bit of research? Lately the guy from Aqua Pros started a pea puffer nano tank, Corey at the seems to get a lot through the store and seems to mention them a bit, also see if Rachel O'Leary has a profile video on them? She really knows her stuff

I could be wrong... it's been awhile, but I swear Racheal O'Leary has a video on Puffers.

Omg!! I'm gonna HAVE to find the breeding ones & see the babies!!! I totally missed those when I was researching them (albeit lightly, because I knew I wasn't gonna get them soon at that time). They sound soo cute!!

 

I could be wrong... it's been awhile, but I swear Racheal O'Leary has a video on Puffers.

Omg!! I'm gonna HAVE to find the breeding ones & see the babies!!! I totally missed those when I was researching them (albeit lightly, because I knew I wasn't gonna get them soon at that time). They sound soo cute!!

Rachael does have one specifically on pea puffers, if my memory serves me I think she calls them sassy. Her video is very informative because it teaches you how to tell the males from the females and gives a pretty great up close view with her description.

If you do research the spawning and baby Puffers please tell me what the swimming things near them are. In all the videos there are these swimming tiny organisms near them that cannot stay still and I have no idea what they are. My teenage niece said they look like sperm But I have no response for her because I have no idea! Lol

 

I haven't watched yet (hadn't had time), but I'd bet they are either daphnia or brine shrimp (the brine shrimp from just being fed - daphnia can live in the (fresh water) tank for longer). More likely to be brine shrimp, if they are small fry... because daphnia are larger.

Lol... how old is your niece?

Yep! I remember her calling them that, it was one of the best videos about them. She is why I know how to tell the difference btwn sexes. (Lol... that kinda sounds like it's a sex-ed video! )

 

I haven't watched yet (hadn't had time), but I'd bet they are either daphnia or brine shrimp (the brine shrimp from just being fed - daphnia can live in the (fresh water) tank for longer). More likely to be brine shrimp, if they are small fry... because daphnia are larger.

Lol... how old is your niece?

Yep! I remember her calling them that, it was one of the best videos about them. She is why I know how to tell the difference btwn sexes. (Lol... that kinda sounds like it's a sex-ed video! )

My niece is 17 so I tend to grin and bear it. I'll be happy to tell her it was brine shrimp or just live fry food!

We received a call from our LFS yesterday saying the pea puffer shipment has come in finally. So we ran over after work to see them first hand. They got in 100 farm raised Puffers, it was beautiful to watch!

I have a few pictures but my phone is having some fits today and they won't upload. I'll try again later.

Tonight and tomorrow I'll do some water tests and I hope to have them by the weekend. I'm also waiting for another shipment of plants. I hope the plants arrive first.

I'm so excited!

 

Beautiful! I can't wait to see pics. I've always wanted some pea puffers, right up there at the top of my list next to shelldwellers!

 

Beautiful! I can't wait to see pics. I've always wanted some pea puffers, right up there at the top of my list next to shelldwellers!

Hopefully not in the same tank

I had to condense the photos so the quality isn't as good as the original picture... sorry guys.

 

Omg! Soo jealous! Lol! Thanks for sharing the pics. They are such adorable little fishies!

 

Well it is officially a Pea Puffer tank! They are lovely and fun little beauties. We went to buy them on Saturday and the whole family is enamored. We got a dozen Dwarf Puffers but I can only see maybe 8-9 at any one time during feeding, they hide well.







I had wanted to wait for my plant shipment which is set to arrive Wednesday but that didn't happen. We just couldn't wait knowing they were there, so at least we get to watch them without much in the way.

The LFS said the puffers were trained to eat both frozen and dried bloodworms and I shouldn't spoil them with snails every time just occasionally. So I'm hoping to keep that going. I also bought the API General Cure and Erythromycin to treat them. I was told they are Farm raised but I have no idea what conditions they were really in. They warned me to add the General Cure to their food not just the water.

I moved all the adult snails out of the tank and into a hatchery that is connected with suction pads to the side of the tank. All the snail babies were too numerous and frankly tiny to move so they became part of the welcome home banquet. They loved the snails! You could see them pouncing on them.













It was quite an adjustment. They went into the tank on Saturday morning and by the next day the tank was full of algae galore! I was not expecting that. I had run tests in the water and thought I had a balance of the lights and fertilizer. I knew we needed more tweaking but seriously didn't think I'd need that much... I was so wrong!

Perhaps the plants coming in two days time will help, but in the mean time, I did a 50% water change and manually removed as much of the algae as possible. Then went and bought 3 Otocinclus fish! I knew we'd need help controlling the algae until a balance was found. I read they are schooling fish and 3 was the most I wanted to add so I didn't overcrowd the tank any more than it already was.

We watched the Otos and the puffers meet and interact and it's the weirdest thing but the puffers leave the otos alone. They were curious of course and swam up to them. Then they just turned around and swam away.

 

I'm so jealous of you tank! I want to start a 10 gallon with 2 Pea puffers and 2 Otos after I get my 75 gallon setup! Your tank looks so pretty!

 

I'm so jealous of you tank! I want to start a 10 gallon with 2 Pea puffers and 2 Otos after I get my 75 gallon setup! Your tank looks so pretty!

Aww, thank you! They are so much fun. I have a security camera in my house and instead of watching the house I moved the camera to view the tank while I'm at work!

 

Oh my they are so cute! I bet they loved those snails. At least snails are easy to grow... I have a jar with some water sprite in it and I put ONE bladder snails and 2 weeks later there were easily 50+.

 

Oh my they are so cute! I bet they loved those snails. At least snails are easy to grow... I have a jar with some water sprite in it and I put ONE bladder snails and 2 weeks later there were easily 50+.

They do reproduce quickly yes. My niece isn't too happy about them being food. She is very pro snail and pro shrimp! lol

 

I had to condense the photos so the quality isn't as good as the original picture... sorry guys.

A lot of photo editors do that, sometimes a screenshot on your phone of the pic can allow you to post it without ruining the quality. Not sure if that's where you post from but its a little shortcut that helps me =)

 

A lot of photo editors do that, sometimes a screenshot on your phone of the pic can allow you to post it without ruining the quality. Not sure if that's where you post from but its a little shortcut that helps me =)

Yes, I agree. Sometimes I just email it to myself to make it work. Other times when taken straight with my phone it still doesn't work. Most times it's enough for me. What I really wish I could share are the videos of these little guys. Even a small 10 second video is too big.

 

Here is an Oto and a puffer.










Here is the snail hatchery attached to the side of the tank. You can see one puffer watching them wishing he could get in.

Most of the puffers eat very well, even when I add in the General Cure medicine. As long as the frozen is defrosted first. Here is one with a fat belly!




On the contrary, there is this skinny chick that is a snob and I don't see her eating the worms. Tonight she is just hovering near the snail hatchery wishing to get inside.




Here is a full shot of the snail habitat. They have already started laying more eggs inside. A puffer watches them right in front.

 

Aww, thank you! They are so much fun. I have a security camera in my house and instead of watching the house I moved the camera to view the tank while I'm at work!

That is just great. watching the tank from a security camera.

 

Here is the oto again, working for a living.

 

My new plants arrived from H2O Plants last night. I had to do another sand vac, and manually remove hair algae before putting the new plants in. I had brown and white hair algae. Otos do not like hair algae, I don't blame them it's gross. I did quite a bit of scrubbing on the wood with a toothbrush to remove green algae as well. I removed some plants and gently rubbed the leaves clean with my fingers, I still lost a few leaves.

Those few snails I have are quite the poopers! I can vacuum under them and 5 min later their area is dirty again. White sand is hard to keep clean! It looks great but lots of work. I purchased a minI vac just to be able to get under the wood to reach the sand. The root tabs I put down also create black pockets of fertilizer so I have to be careful when cleaning so I don't dig them up by accident.

The puffers were quite curious about all my shenanigans. They do not avoid the vac hose! But they made it out ok. I read they enjoy exploring and are easily bored so I think they rather enjoyed the messing about. You can see them reclaiming territory they had before. Even the otos have their corners claimed.

Plants I added tonight:
Cryptocoryne Parva 1x
Four Leaf Clover 3x
Water Sprite (Indian Fern) 5x
Italian Val 5x
Four Leaf Clover (Dwarf) 5x

At the end of it all I fed the puffers some dried bloodworms and the otos got an algae wafer they promptly ignored. I think I'll buy them some zucchinI today.




























I noticed a weird thing last night after everything was done. The puffers were trying to mimic the otos when I was putting the wafer down. I'm not sure if they were just begging for food or playing with the otos but they were swimming up and down the corner of the glass it was funny to see.

 

Yay!! Finally got the Puffers! They are so adorable!! Do you know how many males & females you have yet? (I'm late to the party lol! Didn't see my alerts I guess )

Aww, thank you! They are so much fun. I have a security camera in my house and instead of watching the house I moved the camera to view the tank while I'm at work!

BaaHahaha, I LOVE that bit about watching them on your security camera!! I would totally do the same preeetty sure a lot of ppl on this forum would do that if they could lol!

That anubias flower is beautiful! Well done!

That's funny about their behavior... I don't think I've heard of that before! Lol! Funny little Puffers. I have definitely heard of them begging for food though.

Just a thought: I would think that your snails would have a much better nutritional value than bloodworms. Just because with the snails, YOU feed them, so you know & can give them a balanced, nutritious diet.. if that makes sense? You could also get live blackworms, and you would then also be in control of what they eat i.e. how nutritious they are as well. I say this because everyone always says how "junky"/"junk foody" bloodworms are, because of what (I have no clue what exactly) they are fed in the bloodworm farms.. This is just my opinion though.

I would try feeding blackworms, I know that DP's like them, and it'll also give them a chance to hunt.. because BW (which survive & live in freshwater) will bury most of their bodies into the sand, with their tails hanging out, so the Puffers will have to find them put a bunch in there so that some escape, & so they can hide from the DP's (to find later)... snail hunts will entertain them too. But I know you know that

 

They're so cute! So just because I don't know anything, can you breed DPs in captivity? Will you be able to breed them? I'm just imagining tiny super cute puffer babys eeek.

Your tank just keeps improving! All those new plants certainly helped.

 

They're so cute! So just because I don't know anything, can you breed DPs in captivity? Will you be able to breed them? I'm just imagining tiny super cute puffer babys eeek.

Your tank just keeps improving! All those new plants certainly helped.

Madeline I also love the way your aquarium looks with the new plants!!

Yep. They can be bred in aquariums, Carinotetraodon travancoricus (Dwarf Puffer)

I'm imagining the tiny Puffer babies in Madeline's tank too.... and imagining some of her Puffer's babies in my tank hint hint

*looks over at aquarium* ...aaanndd remembers that it's full of Mystery Snails & Ramshorns lol

 

Yay!! Finally got the Puffers! They are so adorable!! Do you know how many males & females you have yet? (I'm late to the party lol! Didn't see my alerts I guess )



BaaHahaha, I LOVE that bit about watching them on your security camera!! I would totally do the same preeetty sure a lot of ppl on this forum would do that if they could lol!

That anubias flower is beautiful! Well done!

That's funny about their behavior... I don't think I've heard of that before! Lol! Funny little Puffers. I have definitely heard of them begging for food though.

Just a thought: I would think that your snails would have a much better nutritional value than bloodworms. Just because with the snails, YOU feed them, so you know & can give them a balanced, nutritious diet.. if that makes sense? You could also get live blackworms, and you would then also be in control of what they eat i.e. how nutritious they are as well. I say this because everyone always says how "junky"/"junk foody" bloodworms are, because of what (I have no clue what exactly) they are fed in the bloodworm farms.. This is just my opinion though.

I would try feeding blackworms, I know that DP's like them, and it'll also give them a chance to hunt.. because BW (which survive & live in freshwater) will bury most of their bodies into the sand, with their tails hanging out, so the Puffers will have to find them put a bunch in there so that some escape, & so they can hide from the DP's (to find later)... snail hunts will entertain them too. But I know you know that

Thank you. I watch them everyday! I can't not check up on them. Here is the most recent screenshot. It's a bit crooked today I'm afraid. lol The black dirt in the front is the discarded algae wafer that got crumpled up... I'll remove it tonight if the otos refuse to eat it.




The tank still has snail eggs all over the place and they are still hatching and the puffs hunt them down. So, I know they are still getting nutrition from that. I do have one puffer that won't eat worms just stares at the snail hatchery. I tried to scoop her out and gave her a snail adult and a snail baby but she was too scared to eat. I can't give them to just her and she is smaller than the rest they wouldn't leave it for her if I placed it in the main tank. I've a separate batch of snail babies growing. Once they fatten up a bit I'll throw a bunch in and hopefully she can get some then.

I can't tell the totals of males and females yet because they move and hide. I saw a few definite males with the stripe and some definite females but I've no idea on the total.

As for live bloodworms, my LFS expert told me not to spoil them! lol I don't think I'm ready to raise worms just yet.

They're so cute! So just because I don't know anything, can you breed DPs in captivity? Will you be able to breed them? I'm just imagining tiny super cute puffer babys eeek.

Your tank just keeps improving! All those new plants certainly helped.

I have seen YouTube videos on their spawning and videos of the babies so it is possible and I would love to. I think it will require some carpeting plants to provide a nice area for them. However, I still need to separate the four Leaf Clover plants so they can start a carpet, I've never done this before so let's see if I can keep them alive long enough to carpet! lol

Thank you!